It's surprising to me that Roku is still top dog when it comes to streaming boxes. It's a relatively small company, with an unimpressive user interface, and (from what I hear) software development issues for channel developers. But they're still the easiest to use, with the best range of available services, and reasonably priced. Since I got my Roku Ultra it's basically the only thing I use for content streaming (esp. with Plex).

I also found a pair of Roku's 3.5mm earbuds in the box, but they're not listed on the official spec sheet, so that may just be for the review unit Roku sent Ars.

They are not. I literally just hooked one up last night in my bedroom, they come with earbuds.

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The best new feature in the Roku Ultra is the 3.5mm jack on the side of its remote, which enables private listening when you plug headphones in.

This is not a new feature, it existed in the Roku 4 which sits in my living room.

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The previous Roku Ultra box had an optical audio port, which was great for working with audio receivers that don't pass through 4K or HDR. Sadly, there's no optical audio in this year's model—HDMI is the only option.

And I think you may mean the Roku 4 here, not the ultra as I think 'Ultra' was a designation that started with this generation of Roku, but I could be wrong?

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What do the Roku Ultra and Streaming Stick+ bring to the table? Not a lot, other than independence from tech titans like Apple, Google, or Amazon.

For the record I consider this a great thing, but even more than that you never mentioned one of the greatest features of the Roku, which is because of it's independence they have made it so you can search across multiple services, at once, for content. I don't think any of the others allow you to do that at this point, but maybe they have added that and I am out of date?

The review comes off as somewhat pessimistic on the Roku honestly, but yet the worst thing I think I saw in it was that it didn't support Dolby Vision for 4k content? So for devices cheaper than the competitors you get at least as good if not better of a viewing experience compared to everything except the Chromecast Ultra, and then only if you have a screen that supports Dolby Vision, is standalone and not dependant on other networks (At least currently, a bit worried about how the roku channel may affect this honestly). Thus why I ended up going with one personally.

I do agree that I am not thrilled about the ads yes, but then again I am rarely seeing them either.

Just in case anyone was curious, DNS based adblockers like Pi-Hole do a good job at filtering out ads on Roku devices if that is a concern.

People that have Xfinity services may also like to know that Roku is the only vendor at the moment that has access to Xfinity Stream, the app that lets you watch your cable TV service on a non-Xfinity cable box. It's currently in beta, but it's a good option if you have a TV in a room without a coaxial connection.

It's surprising to me that Roku is still top dog when it comes to streaming boxes. --...they're still the easiest to use, with the best range of available services, and reasonably priced. Since I got my Roku Ultra it's basically the only thing I use for content streaming (esp. with Plex).

Um hasn’t pretty much every 4k tv currently produced made these redundant? I had to get a new tv on Black Friday because my teenage daughter is a klutz and tripped over her own feet into the current one, and every single 4K tv I saw, all the way down to the low end Vizio brand at Walmart already had all of the Roku style functionality built into it and were capable of streaming 4K content. I mean has a non-smart 4K tv been made because even going back the the earlier/first produced 4K TVs it looks like they all already had these features too.

Of course Roku is paid to put those buttons on the remote. The Ultra is not any faster than last years tpo end model. It just has had the optical removed. Apple TV betas are showing they are fixing the auto definitions and soon they will default to the original source. This is well known but not in the article. The only reason I have a Roku and 4K Apple TV is Amazon Video which will be Apple TV shortly then I will dump the Roku. It has an ugly interface with ads and poor video quality compared to the Apple TV. I have last years high end Roku which is the exact same as this except mine has an optical port.

It's surprising to me that Roku is still top dog when it comes to streaming boxes. It's a relatively small company, with an unimpressive user interface, and (from what I hear) software development issues for channel developers. But they're still the easiest to use, with the best range of available services, and reasonably priced. Since I got my Roku Ultra it's basically the only thing I use for content streaming (esp. with Plex).

i agree with your review... except the Aerial screensaver on the Apple TVis the Best (almost worth buying the appleTV for it) of course...IMO

the night flyover of dubai’s Burj Khalifa tower is stunning, in its sparkly glory... the other flyover of the highway is ok, except for the Tim Hortons ad on the building at the end ...

I agree with you 200% that screensaver is mesmerising. Here in the UK the Apple TV isn’t very well supported and my Roku has more UK TV apps but I can’t bring myself to replace the Apple TV because of Aerial.

Sometimes you find yourself just watching Aerial. It’s so peaceful and relaxing to watch.

*It's pretty much the last dog in the fight with USB that costs less than a Shield*you can force it to use native frame rates so actual 24hz playback is possible (although toggling the option on and off is a huge pain since it's buried pretty deep)

Those two aspects made it a no-brainer for me.

*The stupid purple tag gimmick has to go. I'm not sure why more people don't find it stupid

While the author didn't harp too much on the Dolby Vision thing, I find it hysterical how many who DO so harp (many, many reviews concerning just about anything AV related) have no problem treating "Atmos" as delivered through Dolby Digital Plus to be authentic Atmos just because it's labeled as such.

Doesn't the ultra also work with IR remotes? That is one extremely nice touch with our 3. It's been perfect, as it works with the same basic universal remote as TV and wmc.

Not having to use a different remote or app is something I'd miss greatly. Granted, it seems that 99% of new sets are "smart," so that's somewhat moot. Still, when attaching another thing, it's nice to not need "yet another remote" for it.

Overall, I've been very happy with our Roku for not being tied to a specific platform. Shortcomings are few with it, and it's easy to see why they have this level of brand loyalty. When I finally go shopping for a 4k set, chances are that I'd prefer it to have Roku built in vs. some other platform, though I'd still probably prefer no "smart" options if that's even possible. Being that it's built in to most, it likely won't matter. I'll probably just go for whatever best price/performance I can find when the time comes.

Um hasn’t pretty much every 4k tv currently produced made these redundant? I had to get a new tv on Black Friday because my teenage daughter is a klutz and tripped over her own feet into the current one, and every single 4K tv I saw, all the way down to the low end Vizio brand at Walmart already had all of the Roku style functionality built into it and were capable of streaming 4K content. I mean has a non-smart 4K tv been made because even going back the the earlier/first produced 4K TVs it looks like they all already had these features too.

I will trust roku because they are pretty consistent about updates and bugfixes. I really doubt Vizio will care in a year about upgrading the smarts in your smart TV. If it works it works, if it doesn't it isn't going to work. You don't necessarily have to get a roku branded one but I think there is value in getting some kind of0 dedicated steamer (appleTv, firestick, chromecast, roku, etc).

Also for those of us with an AVR it just provides a more consistent setup. All the inputs go the AVR the AVR is connected to the TV. I never do anything on the TV (change inputs, channels, volume, etc) except turn it on.

With my Apple TV 4K, I can play content from my PC or Mac in iTunes, or on any share on a PC/Mac or NAS, or on a OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive.

The roku has DNLA support. I've streamed videos and pictures from my desktop computer and even used the roku to connect to the hdhomerun device on the network and stream from there. There's also android device mirroring

edit: Forgot to mention depending on the roku version there's a USB port that you can plug in a USB drive and get videos/pictures/music from there. Also you can set it up to pause live TV and use the USB device as storage to do this

The previous Roku Ultra box had an optical audio port, which was great for working with audio receivers that don't pass through 4K or HDR. Sadly, there's no optical audio in this year's model—HDMI is the only option.

And I think you may mean the Roku 4 here, not the ultra as I think 'Ultra' was a designation that started with this generation of Roku, but I could be wrong?

The first generation ULTRA does have an optical out, the 2017 ultra does not. And the big advantage of the first gen ultra over the roku 4 is that the first gen ultra will take dd+ (from something like netflix) and output dd from the optical which is handy for people like me with older AVRs.

"The Apple TV displays in HDR at all times—even for content that is SDR".

That is true but about to change with tvOS 11.2 available for everyone as a public beta and probably released in a few days, since iOS 11.2 was released yesterday.With tvOS 11.2 on the Apple TV 4K, you can chooses to have it automatically adjust to the dynamic range (Dolby Vision/HDR/SDR) and frame rate (60, 50 or 24Hz) of the content.

This article strikes me as coming from an Apple-universe person, and it appears that's true. The Apple TV 4K is 2x the price of the Roku UItra. The Nvidia Shield is almost 2x as much. One should hope that for the extra $$, you're going to get extra benefits.

I've never bought into this "interface" argument for a streaming box. It's the content, stupid. Why would I or should I care how elegant the interface looks? I'm staying on that screen for a couple of seconds, max. And the ad on the side of the Roku channel list? I never notice it at all. It's not like an auto-streaming audio-blasting ad you get on a web browser. It's just another graphic.

As mentioned above, the headphone jack is certainly not a new feature. That alone tells me this author really doesn't know Roku devices or history very well. And the "arduous" set up process? How many moms/pops have done it without any issues?

Along with several Roku boxes (including a 4K/HDR Premiere+) I have a 4th gen (not 4K) Apple TV. It's a nice box with a nice interface. Not nearly the apps as one can get on a Roku, of course. But it's a nice device. I've got a couple of Chromecasts and a Fire TV stick. I've seen what they all can do, by and large.

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You won’t be able to watch 4K or HDR movies from Google Play on the Roku devices, and Apple’s iTunes store—which has a rapidly growing library of 4K HDR movies—is only available on the Apple TV.

I'm guessing the author has never heard of "Movies Anywhere", where one can sign up for Movies Anywhere and then have access to movies purchased on all the participating services (Apple/Google/Amazon/Vudu) on the app of their choice. In other words, if I have purchased an 4K/HDR movie on iTunes and have a Vudu account on my Roku, I'll see it there.

I also found a pair of Roku's 3.5mm earbuds in the box, but they're not listed on the official spec sheet, so that may just be for the review unit Roku sent Ars.

They are not. I literally just hooked one up last night in my bedroom, they come with earbuds.

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The best new feature in the Roku Ultra is the 3.5mm jack on the side of its remote, which enables private listening when you plug headphones in.

This is not a new feature, it existed in the Roku 4 which sits in my living room.

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The previous Roku Ultra box had an optical audio port, which was great for working with audio receivers that don't pass through 4K or HDR. Sadly, there's no optical audio in this year's model—HDMI is the only option.

And I think you may mean the Roku 4 here, not the ultra as I think 'Ultra' was a designation that started with this generation of Roku, but I could be wrong?

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What do the Roku Ultra and Streaming Stick+ bring to the table? Not a lot, other than independence from tech titans like Apple, Google, or Amazon.

For the record I consider this a great thing, but even more than that you never mentioned one of the greatest features of the Roku, which is because of it's independence they have made it so you can search across multiple services, at once, for content. I don't think any of the others allow you to do that at this point, but maybe they have added that and I am out of date?

The review comes off as somewhat pessimistic on the Roku honestly, but yet the worst thing I think I saw in it was that it didn't support Dolby Vision for 4k content? So for devices cheaper than the competitors you get at least as good if not better of a viewing experience compared to everything except the Chromecast Ultra, and then only if you have a screen that supports Dolby Vision, is standalone and not dependant on other networks (At least currently, a bit worried about how the roku channel may affect this honestly). Thus why I ended up going with one personally.

I do agree that I am not thrilled about the ads yes, but then again I am rarely seeing them either.

AndroidTV lets you search across multiple services, with one big caveat. The apps themselves have to support it, which not all do (Netflix for example, though it's possible they've updated it as I haven't payed attention for a while).

The roku has DNLA support. I've streamed videos and pictures from my desktop computer and even used the roku to connect to the hdhomerun device on the network and stream from there. There's also android device mirroring

edit: Forgot to mentioned depending on the roku version there's a USB port that you can plug in a USB drive and get videos/pictures/music from there. Also you can set it up to pause live TV and use the USB device as storage to do this

Nice to know and should definitely be in the review.I've had a few DLNA devices, it has always been a terrible experience.Therefore being able to play anything in 4K/HDR via SMB/NFS or OneDrive/Dropbox is a life changer for me.And a very important selling point for me: I do not need to use my Android's TV terrible native player!

Local/cloud media streaming should really be a topic in such a review.

I also found a pair of Roku's 3.5mm earbuds in the box, but they're not listed on the official spec sheet, so that may just be for the review unit Roku sent Ars.

They are not. I literally just hooked one up last night in my bedroom, they come with earbuds.

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The best new feature in the Roku Ultra is the 3.5mm jack on the side of its remote, which enables private listening when you plug headphones in.

This is not a new feature, it existed in the Roku 4 which sits in my living room.

The headphone jack on the remote has been one of the best features on Roku's line of products for at least 4 years (Roku 2/Roku 3). It's been skipped in a couple of the models over that period though, which makes it possible for someone only passingly familiar with Roku's products to mistakenly think this is a new feature.

Um hasn’t pretty much every 4k tv currently produced made these redundant? I had to get a new tv on Black Friday because my teenage daughter is a klutz and tripped over her own feet into the current one, and every single 4K tv I saw, all the way down to the low end Vizio brand at Walmart already had all of the Roku style functionality built into it and were capable of streaming 4K content. I mean has a non-smart 4K tv been made because even going back the the earlier/first produced 4K TVs it looks like they all already had these features too.

I will trust roku because they are pretty consistent about updates and bugfixes. I really doubt Vizio will care in a year about upgrading the smarts in your smart TV. If it works it works, if it doesn't it isn't going to work. You don't necessarily have to get a roku branded one but I think there is value in getting a dedicated steamer.

Also for those of us with an AVR it just provides a more consistent setup. All the inputs go the AVR the AVR is connected to the TV. I never do anything on the TV (change inputs, channels, volume, etc) except turn it on.

I have both a 2016 and 2017 Vizio 4k set. And to their credit they updated the 2016 set to the 2017 software. Not only that but it requires a new remote to navigate the new software so they send you a new free one. Granted it's taken FOREVER for them to send it out.

But in general, you are right. In 3 more years they probably won't be getting much in the way of updates. I bought a cheap 1080 Hisense RokuTV like 4ish years ago when they first came out. It gets regular updates and as it doesn't take tons of horsepower it still works just as well when I got it.

The first generation ULTRA does have an optical out, the 2017 ultra does not. And the big advantage of the first gen ultra over the roku 4 is that the first gen ultra will take dd+ (from something like netflix) and output dd from the optical which is handy for people like me with older AVRs.

I've been using my 360 to stream Twitch but it doesn't have vod functionality and isn't 1080p iirc

Yes there is and I use it to watch Twitch all the time. The only problem is there is no chat interface. You can follow/unfollow streamers but must use another device to subscribe as well. That said if I wanted to chat I would likely do it from my PC. If I just want to chill and watch my favorite streamers on my 50" tv there is no better way.

This article strikes me as coming from an Apple-universe person, and it appears that's true. The Apple TV 4K is 2x the price of the Roku UItra. The Nvidia Shield is almost 2x as much. One should hope that for the extra $$, you're going to get extra benefits.

I've never bought into this "interface" argument for a streaming box. It's the content, stupid. Why would I or should I care how elegant the interface looks? I'm staying on that screen for a couple of seconds, max. And the ad on the side of the Roku channel list? I never notice it at all. It's not like an auto-streaming audio-blasting ad you get on a web browser. It's just another graphic.

As mentioned above, the headphone jack is certainly not a new feature. That alone tells me this author really doesn't know Roku devices or history very well. And the "arduous" set up process? How many moms/pops have done it without any issues?

Along with several Roku boxes (including a 4K/HDR Premiere+) I have a 4th gen (not 4K) Apple TV. It's a nice box with a nice interface. Not nearly the apps as one can get on a Roku, of course. But it's a nice device. I've got a couple of Chromecasts and a Fire TV stick. I've seen what they all can do, by and large.

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You won’t be able to watch 4K or HDR movies from Google Play on the Roku devices, and Apple’s iTunes store—which has a rapidly growing library of 4K HDR movies—is only available on the Apple TV.

I'm guessing the author has never heard of "Movies Anywhere", where one can sign up for Movies Anywhere and then have access to movies purchased on all the participating services (Apple/Google/Amazon/Vudu) on the app of their choice. In other words, if I have purchased an 4K/HDR movie on iTunes and have a Vudu account on my Roku, I'll see it there.

Most tech reviewers seem to be fast turning into fashion reviewers these days. It's rare to see call quality in a smartphone review anymore, usable but "plain" interfaces are considered a negative, slim bezels (phones and laptop/tablet), "premium feel" etc.

In my experience most people (particularly those constrained by a budget, which is most of the middle class) have more meaningful objectives in mind when they buy any technology product. In the case of a streaming box it's just another box that sits under your TV. If you do show it off to friends/family it'll likely be as part of queuing up a movie on Netflix/video on Youtube or something and the home screen interface will be the last thing on everyone's mind, except for modern technology reviewers and art critics I guess.

The second is that Roku shows you ads while you browse between channels and apps. There is no way to disable these ads.

OK, so Roku is on the "Never buy!!!!" list. It wants to track you too? Even more clear on the "no purchase message"If it was free the ads would be justified. So what device to recommend to my brother for his new 4K OLED TV? Apple is a non-starter. Just let the TV stream (Amazon and Netflix built in) and do not buy a device?

Um hasn’t pretty much every 4k tv currently produced made these redundant? I had to get a new tv on Black Friday because my teenage daughter is a klutz and tripped over her own feet into the current one, and every single 4K tv I saw, all the way down to the low end Vizio brand at Walmart already had all of the Roku style functionality built into it and were capable of streaming 4K content. I mean has a non-smart 4K tv been made because even going back the the earlier/first produced 4K TVs it looks like they all already had these features too.

As someone else mentioned good luck getting updates for those TVs. Roku is very good with updates. The only TVs out there actually doing the Roku thing are the TCL TVs at walmart with the built in Roku app. No other TV has the list of apps available and functionality the Roku has. If you think it's only for watching Netflix you are missing out for sure.

The second is that Roku shows you ads while you browse between channels and apps. There is no way to disable these ads.

OK, so Roku is on the "Never buy!!!!" list. It wants to track you too? Even more clear on the "no purchase message"If it was free the ads would be justified. So what device to recommend to my brother for his new 4K OLED TV? Apple is a non-starter. Just let the TV stream (Amazon and Netflix built in) and do not buy a device?

It's not like you watch a commercial when you start it up, it's off to the side and just services to subscribe to or movies to rent, i don't even really notice it. Android TV does the same thing, the top row has suggestions of movies to rent or buy, I've never tried an Amazon Fire but I'd be surprised if they didn't do the same.

I'd recommend your brother just use the built in apps unless he has the need for a service LG doesn't support.

The second is that Roku shows you ads while you browse between channels and apps. There is no way to disable these ads.

OK, so Roku is on the "Never buy!!!!" list. It wants to track you too? Even more clear on the "no purchase message"If it was free the ads would be justified. So what device to recommend to my brother for his new 4K OLED TV? Apple is a non-starter. Just let the TV stream (Amazon and Netflix built in) and do not buy a device?

You think the TV vendor won't be tracking him?

Honestly if you want to be absolutely sure you're not being tracked, then your brother needs to build his own media PC/NAS, install linux and Kodi (or Plex) buy all his media physically and rip it to said PC. Otherwise someone somewhere is going to be tracking you, any large for-profit company would be fools not to. Tracking you allows increased product optimization which increases revenue.

At any rate, Roku ads are incredibly tame to the point where I don't even notice them. When the review mentioned them I actually had a moment where I thought "wait, Roku has ads?" and then immediately remembered that they're there.

Not anymore, it is discontinued. Existing users with it installed can continue to use it, but it has been removed for new installations. The speculation as to why is basically once again Amazon being dickheads now that they own Twitch, in the same way they were dickheads about not allowing competing devices on their store.

How big is the power brick or wall wart for the Ultra? One of the things I like about my 3rd gen Apple TV is that there is no power brick to worry about and stow. I'm getting ready to replace it and big-ass power bricks are a non-starter (wall warts piss me off too, but a pigtail power cable makes them slightly more tolerable). This info is something that should be in the review of any device like this.

In today's tech market that's not such a bad thing. Many of the things we use today are horrible precisely because they've tried to be a lot more than they need to be, and fail.

"the eyesore horrors of skeuomorphism"

Yes, I remember those days of terror, when we wished someone would just rip our eyes from our heads rather than look at the Lovecraftian horror of our iPhones! Thankfully we live now in world where all is flat, abstract, and bland.

"It’s not so bad that you’d never use the Roku voice search, "

I'll probably never use it. I barely like talking to people, why the hell would I want to talk to a machine? Unless I really, really, need to open the pod bay doors, I guess.

"At this point, all of these devices’ competitors also sport smart assistant features above and beyond just searching for TV and movie titles, including controlling smart home functions in some cases. The Roku doesn’t do that."

That seems like a point in its favor.

We've been trying to decide whether to get a Roku or an Apple TV box, but this doesn't really help us decide. I still need to know which system is actually going to be better for delivering the stuff we actually want to watch.

The second is that Roku shows you ads while you browse between channels and apps. There is no way to disable these ads.

OK, so Roku is on the "Never buy!!!!" list. It wants to track you too? Even more clear on the "no purchase message"If it was free the ads would be justified. So what device to recommend to my brother for his new 4K OLED TV? Apple is a non-starter. Just let the TV stream (Amazon and Netflix built in) and do not buy a device?

The adds only show up when you are on the home screen and are completely off to the side. I hardly notice them anymore. Also they are not the standard click bait your used to. They are for new movies or channels you might want to add. So truly the most painless of adds. The moment you go to netflix or whatever they are gone.

Also I make major use out of The Roku Media player app. I often have movies stored on my NAS and it seems to play them all (unless its an avi).

Well I can compare to my Roku 4 which is in my living room. There does seem to be a very slight but noticeable difference between those two. But to be honest it is nowhere close to enough for me to really worry about. You are talking about a tenth of a second difference in lag between input and response I believe, and even that is between apparently a generation older than what you have and this.